About Bethlehem 1st Federal Credit Union

Our Office

Our History: A Timeline

Bethlehem 1st Federal Credit Union was started as Bethlehem Teachers Federal Credit Union in 1935 by Liberty High School Teacher Stanley Coffin. Over the years it has expanded its membership base to encompass employees of many Lehigh Valley, PA, educational and nonprofit organizations. (See Membership page for more details.) For more than 75 years, BTFCU has proved to be a leader in exceptional member service.

Our knowledge and experience has allowed us to become a trusted and respected financial institution to almost 5,000 members in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. As a result, we have created long-lasting relationships with our members and we continue to expand our field of membership.

Since 1935, Bethlehem 1st FCU has played an important role in bringing great rates and quality products and services at a low cost to its members.

What is a Credit Union?

A federal credit union is a nonprofit, cooperative financial institution owned and run by its members. Organized to serve, democratically controlled credit unions provide their members with a safe place to save and borrow at reasonable rates. Members pool their funds to make loans to one-another. The members elect the volunteer board that runs each credit union. Not for profit, not for charity, but for service is a credit union motto.

Credit unions are not new. Originating in Europe,
credit union history began in this country when the first credit union was formed in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1909. Today, over 10,350 federally insured credit unions with $430 billion in assets serve nearly 78 million people in the United States.

More and more people join credit unions every year and they are pleased with the service. Credit unions have rated No. 1 in customer satisfaction at financial institutions for 10 years according to the American Banker Newspaper’s annual customer satisfaction survey.

Protected By The NCUA

Bethlehem 1st Federal Credit Union is governed by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. Government Agency. It is the credit union equivalent of commercial banks' Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The NCUA, through its insurance fund (NCUSIF) protects your shares up to $250,000 against loss due to the failure of a federally-insured credit union for any reason.

To join a credit union, you must be eligible for membership. Each institution decides who it will serve. Most credit unions are organized to serve people in a particular community, group or groups of employees, or members of an organization or association. Click here to find out who is eligible to become a Bethlehem 1st member.